For the Childrens' Sake
by bionic4ever
Summary: Jaime and the children are kidnapped! Can Steve find them before it's too late?
1. prologue

**FOR THE CHILDREN'S SAKE**

Prologue

It was 6am, and 3-year-old Jenna Austin was ready to start the day. "Adam, get up!" She shook his crib rails quietly, hoping to rouse her brother without waking her parents.

No such luck; her mother was blessed with a bionic mischief detector. "Jenna's at it again," Jaime said, poking Steve awake.

"Mmmm..." Steve answered without opening his eyes. "Your turn."

"You were supposed to forget about that," Jaime said lightly, sliding out of bed. She padded past the open door to Adam's room and spoke quietly but firmly to her daughter. "Jenna, I need you to go back to bed until I get Adam's bottle ready, then we'll give it to him together."

"Ok, Mommy," the child said cheerfully.

Jaime continued on into the kitchen and as she sleepily pulled a bottle out and prepared to warm it, she heard Adam's crib rail being lowered. "Jenna -" she warned. Steve and Jaime had been running ragged ever since the 3-year-old had learned to release the rail's latches. Jaime could hear the sound of Adam's not-quite-awake early morning babble coming down the hall and she swore silently to herself. Jenna wouldn't dare to actually take the baby from his crib...would she?

_**"Mommy!"**_ a panicked Jenna cried out to Jaime.

Reality proved to be much worse than Jaime's suspicions. When she looked up, a stranger stood in the kitchen entryway with Adam cradled in the crook of his arm and the same hand gripping Jenna tightly by the shoulder. Her eyes were sauced-wide; the child was thus far too shaken and startled to cry. Behind her back, where the little girl couldn't see it (but Jaime certainly could), the intruder's other hand held a gun.

"Stay nice and quiet," the gunman told Jaime with menace in his voice. "Do _not_ alert your husband - and I know you don't want to frighten the children."

"Leave them out of this."

"They're going to keep you quiet and compliant. Now let's go. There's a van waiting outside."

"You're not removing my children from this house," Jaime bristled. "I won't allow it."

"You'd prefer the alternative?"

Jaime's gaze fell once again on the gun that silently threatened her babies. If she tried to fight off their attacker, was he cold-blooded enough to shoot the children? She couldn't take the risk. With grim resignation, she began quickly gathering a few supplies. The intruder followed her everywhere, leaving her no way to signal to Steve. She handed Jenna her favorite doll and the frightened little girl clutched it tightly.

Thinking fast (and under the guise of looking for a special item), Jaime left a doll-sized toy van on Jenna's pillow as a clue. Would it be enough?

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Steve usually woke at around 7:30, but without the scent of fresh-brewed coffee to rouse him he slept soundly until almost quarter to nine. There were no happy noises coming from the children's playroom, no aromas of breakfast waiting in the kitchen...and no note to explain the absence. Steve was instantly alarmed; where was his family?

If Jaime had taken the kids to the store or the park, she'd have left a note - and a pot of coffee. If Oscar had called for her, she'd have gotten Steve out of bed and left Adam and Jenna with him. Then he saw the van on Jenna's pillow, with Jaime's carefully chosen contents inside. He almost passed it by, but the Hamburglar doll poking strangely out of the top caught his eye. Wedged in beside the Hamburglar were Jenna's Mama, Baby and Little Girl dolls. Steve knew his wife well, and to him the odd assortment made immediate, awful sense.

Mama...little girl...baby..._burglar_. _**Jaime and the kids were in trouble**__!_

- - -

The van slowed to a stop as it reached its destination. Jenna sat very close to her mother's side and Adam was asleep, cradled in Jaime's arms. She'd fed him a bottle during the ride and Jenna had nibbled on a banana. She had accurately sensed Jaime's discomfort but Jaime flashed what she hoped was a reassuring smile and tried to keep the little girl occupied with a picture book to calm her and allay her fears. Jaime had been relieved that the children had been allowed to sit with her, but she was keenly aware that both the driver and the man who'd entered the house were extremely well-armed. She had not been bound or restrained; the implicit threat to her babies ensured that she didn't need to be.

Their abductor got out and opened the back door of the van. "Let's go," he ordered sharply, his hand gripping the gun in his pocket. Jaime angled the baby away from him and wrapped a protective arm around Jenna's shoulders as they stepped out onto the gravel driveway and were led into the house.

The bedroom that they were locked into had obviously been prepared in advance for its new occupants. A bed for Jaime, a crib and a youth bed lined one wall and a pile of children's books and toys sat between a rocking chair and a loveseat against the opposite wall. The small adjoining bathroom was stocked with a large supply of diapers; chillingly, they were exactly Adam's size.

Jaime shivered. How long were they going to be held...and _why?_

- - -

"Are you sure they aren't just running errands, Pal?" Oscar suggested to his stricken friend. He could feel Steve's distress, even through the phone line, and tried to project a sense of calm in return.

"Oscar...!"

"I'll be out there tonight, but in the meantime I'll send Russ over...and I'll call Jack Hansen."

Hearing that, Steve groaned inwardly, but he knew that ultimately this was a case for the NSB.

- - -

About an hour after sandwiches for Jaime and Jenna and a bottle for Adam were delivered to the locked bedroom, the abductor and a sidekick returned. "Mrs. Austin, you'll be coming with me," the gunman announced. "Your children will be looked after."

"No," Jaime said flatly. "I'm not leaving them here."

"You have two choices: come with me now - on your own - or we will take you by whatever means are necessary, in full view of your children."

"I'll be back in a little while," Jaime said in a calm, even voice, kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Don't try anything," the gunman warned as he led Jaime down the hall, "or you won't like what happens." They entered the kitchen and he opened a door leading to the basement steps. "Down there." He nodded toward a curtainless concrete shower with a chair placed inside. "Sit down - and don't move."

"You hurt my children," Jaime said very quietly, "and I will kill you with my bare hands."

"We have no intention of harming them - unless you make us. Now _sit down_."

Jaime followed his orders with glaring eyes. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"You'll find out soon; I'm merely the facillitator. My boss is fairly reasonable - as long as he gets his way - so watch your mouth, do what you're told and -"

"I'll take it from here," an unseen male voice insisted. Without another word, the gunman was gone.

It seemed that Jaime was alone. After about 10 minutes of silence, she stood up and peered around the concrete wall of the shower.

_"Sit down!"_ the invisible enemy commanded. As she turned to comply, Jaime noticed the speaker on the wall...and a small camera. Once she was back in the chair, before she could even hear it coming, a skin-stinging blast of icy water hammered down on her, stealing her breath. It lasted less than 30 seconds but it left Jaime soaking wet, disoriented and shivering.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Have you heard from them yet?" Russ queried. "A ransom demand, hang-up call - anything?"

"Nothing," Steve said grimly. It was almost 1:00pm. Steve couldn't bear to picture what his family might be going through...but he could think of nothing else. "It's been over six hours now," he added.

"Does Jaime have a tracking chip?"

Steve shook his head. "No - in fact she had some rather unique suggestions for where Rudy could put it."

"If Jaime was taken for ransom," Russ theorized, "you'd have heard something by now. If it was revenge, they'd have just killed her. But with the kids...I'm guessing the kids were taken for leverage."

"Jaime would do anything to keep our kids safe," Steve agreed.

"Exactly."

- - -

Now that Jaime knew about the camera, it was the most visible part of her new world. She stared angrily - defiantly - at the lens, silently waiting for what might happen next. Surprisingly, nothing did. Twenty minutes later, Jaime was still shivering but she refused her captors the satisfaction of any other response.

Finally, the speaker crackled to life once more. "You will return to your children; you have three minutes."

Was it a trick? Jaime didn't wait to find out. The door at the top of the stairs was unlocked and she made her way through the kitchen and down the hall alone and unimpeded. Suddenly, there it was - in a tiny, recessed nook in the wall - _a phone!_ She was being timed, but Jaime only needed a moment to dial her home number at bionic speed and set the receiver down (just slightly off the cradle) before rejoining Jenna and Adam.

- - -

Steve swooped up the phone before the 2nd ring, to hear...silence. Instinct told him to keep quiet and he was soon rewarded by the sound of a door creaking open...and Jaime's voice.

"Get away from my kids - now," she was saying through what Steve could tell were clenched teeth.

_Trace this call,_ he mouthed to Russ, who was on it immediately.

"Get away from my kids," Jaime repeated - and the temporary sitter left. Jenna sped to her mother who hugged her tightly. "Are you ok?" Jaime asked.

Jenna nodded, clinging to Jaime's side. "I was reading. Adam is sleeping. You're all wet."

Jaime smiled at her daughter, determined to leave the morning's horrors in the basement. "I took a shower." She was no closer to learning the kidnappers' identities or what they wanted but when she was in this room Jaime's main focus was keeping her children calm...and safe.

"Here's the address." Russ handed Steve a slip of paper.

"They're almost two hours away," Steve noted, already halfway out the door.

"Steve - wait! Hansen's team'll be here soon; you might need them."

"Give them the address and send 'em in to bat clean-up. I'm outta here."

- - -

"Let's go," a new gunman ordered, just after Jenna laid down for an afternoon nap.

"If she wakes up and I'm not here, she'll panic," Jaime explained. "Whatever you need can wait an hour."

The gunman scowled. "You come with me...and we'll let her sleep. Start causing trouble and she'll be coming with us."

"Don't. Touch. Her." Jaime rose to her feet.

"I knew you'd see it our way."

Steve sped toward the address Russ had given him, praying he wasn't already too late. What kind of monsters would take a baby and a three-year-old, even if it was only for leverage? He couldn't conceive it. The only thing Steve knew for sure was that once he found them, it would be the kidnappers who needed prayers.

Once again, Jaime was seated inside the concrete shower - alone and in total silence. Worried about her babies and just plain tired and angry, she finally stood up, trying for any sort of reaction or response.

She got one. Jaime was once again doused with a stinging spray of ice water, but this time she stood her ground, her eyes shooting daggers at the camera. The water blasted her again and Jaime stubbornly crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" she asked. There was no answer, and she stepped out of the shower and moved closer to the camera. "Answer me, dammit!"

The answer was not one she wanted to hear: the heart-rending cry of a frightened child, directly above her.

_"__**Mommy**__!"_

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Like the legendary mother bear protecting her cubs, Jaime didn't let the locked kitchen door slow her down - she ripped it from the hinges and threw it at the two men who tried to stop her. When she reached the bedroom at the back of the house, her heart sank. The bedroom door was open...and the children were gone.

Jaime whirled around to face the man she heard running toward her. _"Where are my kids?"_ she demanded.

"They'll be returned when you learn to behave yourself and follow directions. _Maybe_."

"Give me my kids!" Jaime grabbed the guard by his gun arm, twisting it behind his back, crushing the weapon and forcing him to the ground in the same angry motion. Distracted, she didn't notice the other man who stepped out from behind the bedroom door until he stuck the needle in her left arm. Only seconds later, Jaime slumped to the floor, unconscious.

- - -

Steve parked his car about a mile away and made his way through the dense woods that lined the long gravel driveway - faster than he'd ever run before. The house was invisible from the road and the trees surrounding the house itself were almost thick enough to block out all sunlight, shrouding the building in an eerie, oppressive darkness.

There were two cars parked outside, and Steve took a moment to call the plate numbers in to Russ over the datacom.

"Jack should be here in another hour," Russ told him.

"Well, I'm going in now. Give whatever you find out to Jack."

"Steve -!"

"Talk to ya later, Russ." Steve moved around the side of the house, choosing an entry point through a window into the seemingly deserted kitchen. He quickly noted the door that had been torn from its hinges. _Jaime __**is**__ here,_ he told himself, _and she's already been forced to fight._

At the same moment, down in the basement, Jaime was in no shape for any sort of battle. She was alone, draped into the chair where, half an hour earlier, another blast of ice water had failed to rouse her. The group's manipulations were about to become infinitely more cruel.

_"Mommy!"_ Jaime's eyes snapped open when she heard her daughter's amplified voice through the wal speaker. Was it a recording made earlier in the day? If not, what were they doing to force her to cry out? Jaime fought her way to her feet but dizziness quickly drove her to her knees just outside the shower.

At the top of the stairs, Steve had also heard Jenna's voice. All pretense of staying hidden disappeared as her stormed down the stairs. There were no guards to stop him and no sign of the children, but in the center of the floor - soaking wet, shivering and barely conscious - was _Jaime._

"Camera..." Jaime mumbled as Steve knelt at her side. She managed to show him with a nod of her head before fading out again. Steve reached up and yanked it from the wall.

"Jaime," he said urgently, gathering her into his arms, "where are the kids?"

"They...took 'em." Jaime struggled to stand up. "Gotta...find..."

"Can you walk?"

"Think...so..." She took a tentative step toward the stairs before her head began to spin and she collapsed into Steve's embrace.

Steve scooped her up easily, holding her limp body close to his chest. "Are they still in the house?"

"Don't think so...heard the front door and...the van and...Steve, we've gotta find 'em!"

"We will," he promised, carrying her toward the stairs. They weren't even halfway up when the speaker came to life.

_"Welcome, Colonel Austin; we've been expecting you."_

- - -

"We've got big trouble," Russ announced, handing the file to Hansen.

Jack had barely begun to read when they were joined by the other member of their improptu team. "What've we got so far?" Oscar asked anxiously, diving right in. Together with Jack, he began to scan the file. "Oh, no...does Steve know about this?"

Russ shook his head. "He was already on his way inside when he called in the plates."

Oscar's face paled. "He went in there alone?"

"I couldn't stop him."

"Let's go!"

The file, compiled after the plates had been run, painted a picture of terror. Jaime was the fourth top-level operative taken by this group in the last three years. All of the captives had small children who'd been taken with their parent. Two of the agents had eventually returned - with head injuries and their memories erased - and the other had been found several weeks after his abduction...dead. The group's location had been changed far too often for the FBI and NSB to ever catch up to them, and now Jaime (and probably Steve) were somewhere within their clutches.

None of the abducted children had ever been found.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Place your wife back in the chair, Colonel," the disembodied voice instructed, "and report to the kitchen immediately for assignment to your room. We will deal with you later."

"Like Hell," Steve muttered. "Where are you? I'll _deal with you_ - right now!"

"Put your wife in the chair, come upstairs...and we'll talk."

Jaime was dead weight in his arms and while Steve didn't know if she was hurt or drugged - or both - he wasn't about to leave her. According to Jaime, the children were no longer in the house, so Steve was determined to at least get his wife to safety. They could then work to find Jenna and Adam as a team.

Their captors had other plans. Steve had just reached the kitchen (still carrying Jaime) when a fresh swarm of armed guards tried to force his wife from his arms. Steve didn't dare set her down and she was apparently unable to stand, so he kicked out with one leg and sent a chair skittering across the linoleum.

One...two...three and four - the gunmen toppled like dominoes from a single blow to the first in line. Steve wasted no time heading out the front door and deep into the protection of the woods. No one appeared to be following and when they were a good distance away, Steve set Jaime gently onto a soft pile of leaves to assess her condition.

She was just beginning to come around, very confused and very, very frightened. "Where are we?" she whispered. "The kids...did you find 'em?"

"Not yet, Sweetheart," Steve told her gently.

"Gotta...go...back...!" she insisted. Jaime moved to stand up but Steve lowered her back onto the ground when she found she couldn't quite make it. He kept a vigilant watch as Jaime closed her eyes, once more surrendering to drug-induced darkness.

"Someone's here," Jaime told him an hour later, when a sudden flurry of activity penetrated her haze. She listened as closely as she was able, still needing to lean on Steve for support. "Oscar and Russ," she said quietly, then wrinkled her nose. "And Jack Hansen."

"Stay here," Steve insisted, kissing Jaime's cheek before settling her back onto the pile of leaves. She'd be safe there, for now. "I'll be right back to get you." Jaime nodded and drifted off again.

When Steve reached the house, Oscar and Hansen were helping to drag the last of the injured gunmen into the waiting caravan of cars. "Are you alright, Pal?" Oscar asked anxiously. "Where's Jaime?"

"I've got her hidden. She's safe...but she needs Rudy."

"He's right behind us," Russ announced. "About 15 minutes."

"Jenna and Adam?" Oscar asked Steve, who - overwhelmed by emotion - could only shake his head 'no'.

"We'll get them back," Oscar told his friend. He sent the caravan of prisoners away then returned to the group at the lead car.

"Jaime's out of commission," Steve continued. "I don't know what they gave her, but -"

"They _drugged_ her?"

"Yeah - I think so. She's almost completely out of it."

"I've got some information for you," Oscar added. "You'll want to look at it _before_ you bring Jaime back."

"It's that bad?"

"It's bad, Pal. You'd better sit down."

- - -

Jaime opened her eyes and found herself alone. Where was Steve? Was he in trouble? Had he found the kids? Slowly, silently, she made her way back toward the house. With Steve, Oscar, Hansen and Russ completely wrapped up in the criminal file and forming a plan of action, none of them saw Jaime as she emerged from among the trees. No one, that is, except the men in the black van that had stopped a hundred yards back from the house.

Still fairly dazed, Jaime was easily grabbed, silenced without a fight by a simple chloroform-soaked rag and tossed into the back of the van, which then sped away in reverse. Within mere seconds, Jaime was gone.

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The interrogator was no longer working through a loud speaker. Instead, he was directly in Jaime's face - and he was relentless. "You work for Oscar Goldman," he stated. "What is your security clearance?"

Jaime was still quite groggy but her resistance training kicked in automatically. "Huh?" she hedged. "Oscar...who?"

His face was only inches from hers. "Oscar _Goldman_ - your boss."

"I'm a retired tennis pro."

The **slap** across her face was stunning and sudden, but Jaime didn't blink, infuriating her captor. "I know exactly where you work, and know who you work for!"

"You know nothing!" Jaime snapped.

Her tormentor laughed. "You've also spent time at all three of Rudy Wells' complexes, so I strongly suspect you are bionic."

"I'm...what?"

"Your children are here," the man taunted with an evil grin. "Would you like to see them?"

"My children have nothing to do with this."

"They do now."

The had been Jaime's worst fear since the day she'd first learned she was pregnant with Jenna: her children were in serious danger, solely because they were hers and Steve's. Resistance training didn't cover this.

"As a Security Five or Six, you have plenty of information behind that pretty face..."

"Sure - I can tell you all about Wimbledon or Forest Hills. I can also do a 20 minute dissertation on bottle feeding if you'd like -" Jaime and Steve had recently been promoted to Level Seven, but she certainly wasn't about to tell _him_ that.

The second slap was expected and Jaime still refused to blink. "Which limbs are bionic?" the man persisted. Jaime merely shrugged and glared and the man pulled out a large angry-looking knife. "Never mind," he snarled. I can find that out...my way."

- - -

When Steve found out that Jaime was gone, he was inconsolable - band furious. There were no clues in the file or the forest; it was as if Jaime (and the children) had simply disappeared. Fresh NSB teams began combing the woods while Oscar led Steve back into the house.

"We found a lot of children's items in one of the bedrooms," he told Steve. "I need to know if any of it belonged - _belongs_ - to Jenna or Adam."

The room's occupants had obviously left in a hurry. Steve picked up a doll from the floor near the youth bed, and it nearly brought him to tears. "It's Jenna's...her favorite." His eyes were drawn to the rocking chair, where something was gleaming from between the cushions. "It's Jaime's," he said, cupping a thin gold bracelet in one hand. It wasn't broken, and Steve knew she'd left it behind to tell him she had been there.

But...where was Jaime now?

- - -

The interrogator leaned closer, menacing Jaime with the knife. Annoyed by her lack of response, he began the next phase by slashing purposefully and cruelly at her left arm. Jaime flinched just slightly from the pain and kicked wildly at the man's kneecaps, sending him sprawling across the floor. But the drugs she'd been given were powerful and Jaime was unable to leave her seat quickly enough.

The attacker waved the knife wildly, cutting Jaime across both legs before forcing her into a chair. "Now that we've found flesh and blood..." he stared at her bleeding arm, removed a syringe from his pocket and plunged it into the arm, just below the cuts. Jaime tried to fight him off but the double whammy of sedation and blood loss was too much to overcome; her strength was gone.

When she woke up, she was back in the van again, leaning against a wall. Someone was with her and she was crying: **Jenna**! Jaime snapped instantly to full alertness, pulling the little girl close and brushing the tears from her eyes.

_"Mommy! _You're ok!"

Jaime's heart broke - her daughter must've thought she was dead. She hugged her tightly, ignoring the searing pain in her arm and the gashes in her legs (which, thankfully, Jenna didn't seem to notice).

"Jenna," Jaime began as gently as possible, "where's Adam?" He wasn't with them in the back of the van.

"I don't know," Jenna said, sniffling.

"Is he up front with the driver?"

"No-o-o-o..."

Jaime remembered the interrogator had claimed her _children_ - plural - were with her at the place they were moving further away from with each passing second. When the van began to slow to a stop, Jaime pulled her daughter close to her chest. "Hold on tight, Bug," she instructed, "with both hands." When she felt the child's grip tighten, Jaime kicked out the back door of the van and - pulling Jenna with her - made a last-chance dash for freedom.

- - - - - -


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Mommy...?" Jaime knew that Jenna had just witnessed the use of bionics for the first time ever and although she'd have no understanding of it (and probably no memory of it, either), this was not the time to stop and comfort her. Not if Jaime wanted to keep both of them safe.

"We're ok, Bug," Jaime whispered into her daughter's ear as tiny sobs shook the little girl's body. Jaime kept running on her damaged legs, still carrying Jenna, going back in the direction she believed the van had just come from until she found a phone booth. Battling weakness and a still-spinning head, she closed both of them inside.

"Operator, a collect call, please. Washington DC..."

- - -

Russ was on the front porch of the house where Jaime and the kids had been taken first - and almost missed the phone ringing on the front seat of the car.

"Russ?"

"Yeah, Callahan. Got something for us?"

"I've got Jaime on the other line; I'll put her through now."

Russ motioned wildly to Oscar, who was just coming out the front door. "Get Steve! It's Jaime!" Rudy, who had arrived with a medical van a few minutes earlier, took the receiver from Russ.

The voice on the other end was shaky (frightened?) but...it was Jaime.

"Russ?"

"It's Rudy, Honey. Are you alright?"

"Not really," Jaime admitted, downplaying her injuries so she wouldn't frighten Jenna. "I...I need you, Rudy."

"Here's Steve, Honey - tell him where you are and we'll both come and get you."

Steve caught Rudy's _'both'_ and knew his wife was hurt. "Jaime...what'd they do to you?" His heart pounded angrily at the thought of Jaime in pain.

"I need Rudy..." she repeated vaguely. "Steve, I've got Jenna."

"And Adam?"

"I...haven't found him yet."

Steve cringed inwardly but kept his voice low and steady. "We'll get him, Sweetheart. Where are you?"

Jaime read the street signs and the numbers on nearby buildings to give him a location. "Steve," she concluded, "I don't think I can run anymore."

"Are you safe, until we can get there?"

Jaime looked around. "There's a little diner about halfway down the block. We'll wait in back, in the alley." She reeled slightly as her head began swimming again. She gripped Jenna's hand for dear life.

"We'll be there in 15 minutes," Steve told her. "Please be careful; I love oyu."

"I love you too," Jaime told him before she hung up and cautiously led Jenna into the alley. "Stay right here, Bug - Daddy's coming," she instructed. She made the little girl as comfortable as possible before losing her own private battle to stay awake.

- - -

Steve, of course, reached them first, followed closely by Oscar and then by Rudy with the medical van. Jaime was unconscious - and her appearance was horrifying. Her left sleeve was tattered and soaked with blood. Her legs were covered with newspaper, hiding them from Jenna's frightened gaze. The child was cowering next to her mother, too scared to cry...until she saw Steve.

"Mommy's hurt!" she cried, rushing into her father's arms. Steve handed her the doll, which seemed to open the floodgates as Jenna finally began to cry in earnest. "I'm scared...!" she sobbed.

"You're safe now," Steve told her, "and Mommy'll be ok, too. Bug, do you remember Uncle Oscar?" Jenna nodded and let Oscar take her hand to lead her back to the car. Steve joined Rudy, who had knelt down next to Jaime.

"How is she, Rudy?" he asked once his daughter was out of earshot.

Rudy frowned. "She's lost a lot of blood," he explained, wrapping a thick gauze bandage around the newly-cleaned gash on her arm. "It's pretty deep; there may be nerve damage."

"Nerve damage...?" Steve reached over to stroke Jaime's face. She moaned softly but her eyes remained closed.

"Jenna...?" she whispered.

"We've got her - she's safe," Steve said, kissing his wife gently. "You saved her, Sweetheart."

"We need to get her into the van," Rudy announced as he uncovered Jaime's legs. "It's amazing that she made it this far; those are some pretty serious wounds."

Steve picked her up easily but instead of leaning into him, Jaime flailed her limbs, trying to stand up. Steve held her firmly and carried her to the gurney in the back of the medical van, but she refused to lie down.

"Relax, Sweetheart," he told her. "Let Rudy take care of you."

"Gotta...find...Adam..."

"You've gotta rest - that's your only 'gotta' right now," Steve admonished gently. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. I'll find Adam."

The trouble was, Steve has absolutely no idea how to do that...

- - - - - -


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Steve and Oscar proceeded with great urgency but even greater caution and gentleness in speaking with Jenna. Meanwhile, Rudy had his hands full in trying to keep Jaime resting quietly on the gurney.

"Can't you just do a quick patch-up on my legs for now?" she pleaded. "Please, Rudy? Adam needs me!"

"You're right," Rudy seemed to agree. "He needs you to be healthy - and _alive_ - when Steve and Oscar find him."

"I'll take it easy, Jaime bargained. "I'll be careful and not try to do too much. Please..." Rudy's only answer was a raised eyebrow, and Jaime closed her eyes to fight back tears of frustration. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright; one brilliant flash of memory had penetrated the fog she'd felt for most of the day. "Rudy, I need a pen and paper!" Jaime scribbled a series of letters and numbers on the notepad and triumphantly handed it back to Rudy.

"It's the plate number of the van I jumped from," she told the doctor.

"I'll give it to Russ," Rudy called over his shoulder as he ran to the car. _"Stay there!"_ This time, for now, Jaime did as she was told. Rudy came back seconds later - with Steve.

"Russ is calling in the plate," Steve told her as Rudy began working on her legs. "And we've got another great lead - from our daughter."

"Is Jenna ok?"

"She's pretty scared, but they didn't hurt her. And she wants to help find Adam."

"She's a brave kid," Jaime said softly.

"She's her mother's daughter."

"What did she say?" Jaime asked.

"She said she heard a baby crying...and it wasn't Adam."

_"Another baby?"_

Steve nodded. "Possibly other kids, too."

"A kidnapping ring?" Jaime guessed.

"Maybe; we're looking into it."

"Well, I'm gonna help," Jaime announced.

"Now, just a minute, Young Lady," Rudy corrected in his best paternal voice.

"My legs don't hurt," Jaime protested, "and we're talking about _my baby_." She pushed herself off the gurney, grasped Steve's arm for temporary support and then was stubbornly and firmly on her own two feet. "You can tinker with the wires _after_ Steve and I find our son," she told the doctor.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Steve promised. "_Both_ eyes." He hugged Jaime close and gazed deeply into her eyes. "Let's go find Adam."

Rudy finished bandaging Jaime's arm while she looked over the case files. "I was _fourth_, she murmured. Tears welled in her eyes as she read about the children and her mind did the necessary math. Including Adam, seven children were missing.

"Seven..." Jaime said, very softly. "Do you think they're..." she couldn't finish, refusing to give voice to her very worst fear.

Steve shook his head. "They're alive, Jaime; we have to believe that."

"What'd Jenna hear? Did she see anything?"

"She's positive the baby she heard wasn't Adam, but she was kept alone and didn't see any other children - or any babies," Steve explained. "According to the files, none of the other missing kids would still be infants - the youngest would be almost two now - but Jenna seems really sure."

Just then, Russ re-joined them with a new stack of papers and some urgent information. "Peter Nando from the FBI went missing this morning...along with his daughter."

Jaime shivered and then nodded knowingly. "His _baby_ daughter?"

"Three months old."

Jenna hadn't seen the other children, but she did remember seeing men - at least 4 or 5 of them. Steve and Jaime had to assume they were armed and take the appropriate precautions. Jenna also told them about a woman who had brought her a snack and tried to calm her down.

"I wanted you and Mommy," the child told Steve. "She gave me a teddy bear. And she had cookies. But..." Jenna sniffled, "I didn't like her."

"What'd she say to you, Bug?" Jaime probed gently. "Do you remember?"

"She said..." Jenna buried her face against Jaime and broke out in fresh, gulping sobs. Her parents didn't want her traumatized any further, but they needed something - _anything_ - more to go on.

"What'd she say, Bug?"

"She...she said..."

Jaime embraced her daughter tightly. "Big breath, Sweetie; you're safe now." She rubbed the small of Jenna's back and felt her tiny body finally begin to relax. Jenna sniffled once more and looked up at her mother.

"She said...they were taking me to my new Mommy."

- - - - - -


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"That's impossible," Russ insisted. "Run it again."

"What is it?" Jaime asked, leaning forward from Rudy.

The doctor frowned. "Steve, I need to keep your wife still for a few more minutes. Even a temporary patch takes _time_."

"Sorry, Rudy," Jaime sighed, sitting back on the gurney that was serving as a makeshift bionic operating room.

"Alright, thank you," Russ was saying, hanging up the car phone. "Jaime, how sure are you about that plate number?"

"I wouldn't have given it to you if I wasn't sure. Why?"

Russ ran a frustrated hand across his forehead. "Plate comes back to Phillip Renshaw."

"The Senator's son?" Steve was stunned.

"Maybe the numbers were transposed?" Oscar suggested.

Jaime shook her head. "Not by me"

"I had them run it twice," Russ told them. "He does live nearby, but..."

"Well, let's go then," Jaime said briskly. "Oh - am I done, Rudy?"

"One more second - there." Rudy stepped back from the gurney. "Don't push it. Let Steve do the heavy work." He exchanged a worried glance with Steve.

"Looks like we need to have a chat with a Senator," Steve said, taking his wife's hand, "and his son."

- - -

After a brief sidetrip to pick up their car, Steve and Jaime headed first to Senator Renshaw's office. "Has the Senator been in all day?" Jaime asked casualy while they waited in the outer office.

"Since before I got here," the secretary confirmed

"What time was that?"

"Seven A.M. - just like every day. We start early here."

"What time did he go to lunch?" Steve probed.

"He didn't. But he hardly ever does."

"What about visitors? Like maybe his son?"

The secretary smiled. "Phil? He's been away at Harvard Law since the beginning of August. We won't see him again until probably Thanksgiving."

"He's a good student, I'm guessing?" Jaime asked, still keeping it light.

"4.0 - plus."

"I'll bet that van of his comes n pretty handy, hauling all those law books."

"Oh, he'd never be seen at the Ivy League in a _van_. He took the TransAm."

"Did he sell the van already?" Steve probed "Because my wife and I could sure use -"

"It's not for sale. Mrs. Renshaw uses it to run errands."

"I know how you feel, Sweetheart," Steve told Jaime as they sped toward the Renshaws' estate. "I feel the same way. But you can't go storming in there accusing a Senator's wife of baby stealing."

"And kidnapping - and _murder_," Jaime corrected. "Just watch me!"

"Jaime -"

"She has our son!"

"Which is why we can't spook her. If we play this wrong and Adam is somewhere other than at that house..."

"We'll never see him again," Jaime concluded, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

"We'll get him back," Steve repeated. "How's your arm feel?"

"Alright; hurts a little."

"Knowing you, on a pain scale of 1 - 10, about a 27?"

"30. But I'm ok," Jaime assured him. "There's the driveway."

Steve turned off the engine and pulled the car to the side of the road. "You could wait here," he suggested.

"Like Hell!" Jaime started up the lawn faster than Steve knew she should be moving. He also knew there was no way he could stop her.

The estate was obscenely large for a 3-member family. A humble Rambler was parked out front, between a Cadillac...and the van. As if on cue, the main door opened and Anita Renshaw escorted a beaming young couple toward the Rambler. Jaime gasped; in between them, cradled in both sets of arms, the young couple was carrying..._Adam._

- - - - - -


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Steve knew there'd be no holding Jaime back now, and he didn't even try. "We need all available back-up to the Renshaw estate _right now_," he called into the datacom. Anita Renshaw paled and tried to duck back into the house, but Steve instantly had a tight grip on her arm.

"Don't even _try_ to move," he told her, his jaw firmly clenched.

Jaime approached the young 'mother' with amazing serenity and grace. "He's **my** son," she said very gently, knowing it was likely that this woman and her husband were victims as well. "He has a birthmark on the small of his back that -"

"I believe you," the young woman said softly, placing Adam back into his mother's waiting arms before dissolving into tears of confusion and loss.

The cars began arriving almost immediately. "Take her," Steve told Hansen and Oscar, handing over custody of the Senator's wife before finally gathering his own wife and son into his arms. "We're ok now," he said, tenderly brushing Jaime's cheek. "We're all ok."

Hansen grabbed a handcuffed Anita Renshaw by the shoulder. "Where's the other baby?" he demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted, haughty as ever in spite of the situation. "I run an adoption service, Mr. Hansen. When I have located a suitable couple, the child is brought to me. That is all I can tell you."

"Not buyin' it, Lady," Steve shot back over his shoulder "Oscar, let me question her!"

"I don't think so, Pal," Oscar said very quietly, joining the Austins as Hansen led Anita away. "I'll give the good Senator some quality time alone with his wife - remotely monitored, of course - and I think the truth will come out pretty quickly."

"Speaking of quality time," Steve said, still embracing his wife and son, "I'd like to get Jenna from Rudy and take my family home. It's been an awfully long day."

- - -

The Austins were able to sleep in the next morning. Steve got up to give Adam his first bottle of the morning and then began preparing a special surprise for Jaime. Aided by Jenna's very enthusiastic last minute help, he placed coffee, pancakes, bacon, maple syrup and butter on Jaime's favorite wicker tray and was almost ready to head down the hall when...

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Bug?"

"You forgot the juice."

So Steve carried the wicker tray and Jenna triumphantly clutched the glass of orange juice as they paraded into the bedroom. Steve was just about to wake Jaime with a tender kiss when...

"Surprise, Mommy!"

Jaime opened her eyes and smiled brightly, drawing Jenna toward her with a hug and happily receiving her husband's now-belated kiss. "Thank you," she said softly, "_both_ of you."

"How do you feel?" Steve asked.

"My legs are a little stiff..."

"Rudy just called; he's on his way over." As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Steve took his daughter's hand. "C'mon, Bug - let's make you a Mickey Mouse pancake!" On the way back to the kitchen, they opened the door for Doctor Rudy and Uncle Oscar.

Oscar had a cup of coffee while he waited and was then persuaded by his favorite 'niece' to share her pancakes - which allowed Steve to return to Jaime's side while Rudy finished his exam.

"How's she doing, Doc?" he asked, gazing lovingly into Jaime's eyes.

"The arm is beginning to heal nicely," Rudy proclaimed. "No stitches, after all. I've given Jaime an antibiotic as a precaution, but things look good there."

"And her legs?"

"I'd like to schedule surgery as soon as possible, for a permanent repair. But I know you have statements to give to the NSB and to Oscar," he told Jaime, "and a little down time won't hurt, as long as it's truly _down time_..."

"I'll make sure of it," Steve promised. He smiled at his wife. "I intend to spoil you rotten."

"Call Lynda in a few days and we'll set something up," the doctor instructed. He kissed Jaime's forehead and shook Steve's hand. "I'll watch Jenna while you both talk to Oscar. He's got some interesting information for you - and some good news."

- - - - - -


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

Oscar joined Jaime and Steve with three mugs of coffee and a large tape player. "I knew you'd want to hear what the Senator and his wife had to say when they thought no one was listening." Without further preamble, he hit 'play'.

"Anita, what the _hell?"_ The Senator sounded bewildered - and furious. _"Selling children?"_

She didn't deny it. "You've always said operatives should not be parents."

Steve pulled Jaime a little closer and felt her body tremble. They'd had this discussion at length before starting a family; it was still very much a sore point. Was it fair to subject children to this lifestyle? Ultimately, they'd decided that the love they shared and their exceptional ability to protect themselves would override their concerns, but when Jaime and the children were kidnapped, it had all been brought vividly to the surface once again.

"That doesn't mean you can just remove them!" Renshaw thundered. "They're _babies_ - not possessions! They were supposed to be returned safely at the end of their parents' tests - you know that!"

There was dead silence and then the sound of angry, pacing footsteps. "You have to make this right," the Senator said flatly. "Tell them where to find the kids and maybe you can get a lighter sentence."

"Sentence? You mean..._prison?_ I can't go to prison!"

"What did you think they'd do? Give you a commendation?"

"At least _**I**_ didn't kill anyone!"

"That was an accident," Renshaw said quietly.

"Was it?"

"He didn't crack, and it simply went too far."

"The Austin woman didn't crack either. Were you going to kill her, too?"

"Of course not!" the Senator blustered. "No one was supposed to die. But I needed to know where their loyalties were - if they'd choose their children over their country."

"And it worked so well!" Anita sobbed. "Prison!"

Oscar shut off the tape. "The FBI's missing agent is on his way home - with his daughter."

"That's wonderful," Jaime sighed, leaning closer to Steve. "And...I would've died, too...I guess, if you hadn't found me," she said with a shudder.

"But you didn't," Steve said softly. "We won, Sweetheart." Jaime leaned into his chest and he ran his fingertips across her cheek. "Thank God."

"What about the other children?" Jaime asked wistfully.

Anita has been cooperating; we'll hopefully be able to recover _all_ of the missing children. Of course, some have been gone for two years - the transitions won't be easy, but we'll bring in the best available help and..." Oscar whole persona grew softer, his voice quiet. "How are Jenna and Adam?"

Jaime was just about to answer when...

"Adam...you up? Play with me!" The sound of Jenna happily rattling her brother's crib rail was music to everyone's ears.

_'__**Normal**__'_ was not far away, after all.

END


End file.
